NCIS Exclusive: The L Word's Karina Lombard Cast as Ziva's [Spoiler]

Longtime NCIS viewers looking to learn more about how Ziva David (played by Coté de Pablo) became the woman she is today are in luck, because Karina Lombard has been cast as the badass beauty’s longtime friend and mentor, TVLine has learned exclusively.

Lombard’s character, named Monique Lisson, was first alluded to in this season’s premiere, when Ziva made mention of a female friend she had in Central America. And when I spoke to series boss Gary Glasberg in January, he shared his plan to “introduce Ziva’s [version of Mike] Franks — someone who’s going to sort of guide her a little bit in figuring out what she wants from life, professionally.”

What’s more, Monique, who will appear in an April episode, has a somewhat secretive past of her own.

Lombard’s TV credits include runs on The 4400, The L Word and Rescue Me, plus guest gigs on CSI and CSI: NY, while her big-screen resume features Legends of the Fall and Wide Sargasso Sea.

They can not take Ziva out. The chemestry between Ziva and Jetro is the hole base of the program. Everything else goes around them. Can not happend. Is like when Gibbs was in the dinner. The program have is base in the 2 most important character. People see the program because this 2 character. The rest implement. I will not see NCIS ever if Ziva is out. I see that program so much that I know the dialog of all the chracter.

oh my god that is disturbing! the thought of ziva and gibbs doesn’t make sense.these are the couples on the show
ziva/tony tiva
abby/mcgee mcabby
jenny/gibbs jibbs
palmer/ breena balmer?
here are the couples that could never ever happen(romantically)
zibbs
zabby
tabby
tony gibbs
mcgibbs
mcziva
jiva
mctony
no i am non homaphobic but i would just be wierd to see those couples together and the thought of ziva and gibs together i just messed up

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO ZIVA CAN’T LEAVE THEN WHO WOULD TONY HAVE TO LOVE HIM?GIBBS,ABBS,PROBIE,DUCKY,PALMER,YEAH THEY ALL LOVE HIM BUT DEEP DOWN INSIDE ZIVA LOVES HER SOME TONY LOL.

She better not be leaving, the Team is perfect ( although, I loved Kate also , and like her new show)…Palmer is perfect with Ducky —just perfect, and so cute. Nope , she better not leave….the banter between her and Tony is great…..and they need a person for Probie(Tim), now. And what happened to Gibbs’s girlfriend (the girlfriend that retired out of the service), they were good together? I do not like him and the black hair lawyer together at all ! And I miss Mike Franks…glad they bring him back in thoughts .

One of my favorite shows on TV. So glad to hear of new cast members possibly entering the picture such as Jamie Lee Curtis, I just love her acting, I think she adds a little more flavor to the mix of actors and the team, maybe add a strong American Indiana male with strong believes in his ancestory that would be interesting mix.
Anyway just love the show

I can’t wait for this. I’ve been asking for a female friend for Ziva for a looong time. And now it is actually happening. So happy and I can’t wait to see what’s the deal with this woman. Ziva’s Mike Franks. I like the description. And mysteries are always a good thing. Is she a former Mossad woman? Who knows, I hope she will help Ziva to find some answers in life.

Hi Svenja – I soooo totally agree. Monique’s arrival is LONG overdue for Ziva, for a number of reasons!! :)

Ziva has been suffering far too long from a lack of matronly guidance her life. Yes, she loves her job & her “Men in the Bullpen”, but she’s around them most of the time. We don’t get to see her hanging out with Abby too much at the moment. With her own mother gone now, I hope Lisson really provides Ziva with kind of GOOD female guidance and support that every woman needs in their life. Ziva really needs that right now, I think.

I also cannot WAIT to see DiNozzo pick this woman’s brain, trying to “get the goods on Ziva”!!! I’m sure he will be just as clever in snagging intel on his partner, as she was on him during Wendy’s office visit!

You put it in a nutshell pretty well. I think some female energy and friendship wouldn’t hurt NCIS for an ep. Abby and Ziva are friends, but Abby is completely different from Ziva (in emotional terms). Abby shows her emotions, Ziva tends to hide them, which is why both women do not talk about their feelings a lot. They did become friends, but I think only someone who knew Ziva for a long time can understand what’s going on in her head. I can’t wait to see what secrets and tibits of Ziva’s past are gonna come to the surface.

Oh, I agree ! Its so much fun watching him do that. lol Abbey needs someone at the office who likes her and is not a “crazy killer”…..and then Tim could have a person too. Tony has had one, Ziva has had a one, now its Tim and Abbey’s turn.

ZIVA WOULD ABSOLUTELY KICK HIS ASS!!!!!!! THREESOM WHAAAAAAAAAAT?NO WAY IT’LL NEVER HAPPEN.THEY CHECK UP ON EACH OTHER TO MUCH.EVERYBODY IS IN EVERYBODY’S BUSINESS SPECIALLY ZIVA AND TONY THAT’LL NEVER HAPPEN

If you think so, then you need to see Wide Sargasso Sea. You get to see a lot of her and of Nathanel Parker. Movie isn’t that great, but it’s inteesting becaues it gives a backstory for the the 1st Mrs. Rochester (Jane Eyre)

I kind of want Ziva’s Mossad background to be explored more, beyond Dad is a bit of a douche and Old flame is coming to kill me. I get the feeling Mossad training would be baptism by fire turned up to eleven.

No more personal background storylines. No more guest stars. I’d rather have more team scenes, more Abby, Ducky & Jimmy. I want BETTER stories. I din’t want to figure out who the bad guy is within the 1st five minutes.

I agree. I would like to see more bonding of Ziva and the team. I mean she is part of the team but she isn’t. She holds back to much. Maybe something in her past. Maybe she had a team like this in Mossad but something happened to them and that’s why she doesn’t fully bond? Or something like that. Maybe an episode where she finally breaks down and the team is there for her and she explains more of her past, more of what makes her her.

Yes, I agree. And Ziva and Abbey needs to be together more like they did with her and Kate. And it will give Ziva a fun nature for a bit.
Lets face it, they are both “kick ass women” ! And Tim needs a nice, pretty women for a change , that way, it will also drive Tony crazy ! He will have to figure both McGee and Ziva new life out. There are so many avenues that can be taken ….that is what I love about this show. It can go in any way, and its great. I am totally addicted, love every one of the Team . And Ducky needs a sweetie also.

Not me — I’ve said it before and I repeat, I think a good match for Gibbs would be the Coast Guard gal (Abigail Bourn) played by Diane Neal!!! Like Gibbs, she’s intelligent, does her job well and has such a sexy, husky voice.

The ‘Abby being adopted’ thing was way to short. Why couldn’t we have more about the brother? Why start something like that and just stop? We enjoyed Ducky’s mother for years and her demise was very natural. We got lots of Ziva’s dad. Enjoyed Tony’s dad. But we don’t get that much on the others. We really like the plots, but we like the extra info that give the characters depth.

Ziva and Tony getting it on? You have to be kidding! Tony is a dork! He’s better off sucking on that he/she he met at a bar!
Tony is not in the same league as Ziva.
Gibbs and the retired officer or Gibbs and the lady from NCIS Los Angeles (the one that had investigated him way back when)

Gibbs and the “lady from NCIS-LA” would not work since she was found dead and burned up in a beach bon fire in om\ne of the episodes. I liked Gibbs and the Coast Guard chick but she just kind of disappeared. Many of the NCIS subplots just seem to never get resolved. I think the writers create thes scenarios and then can’t figure out where they should go. All the stuff about Jenny’s father and the mysterious redhead who drove the cool convertable just never explained.

It will be nice to know a little more about Ziva’s life. We knew about the boyfriend and her father. She has always been a secret to all of us, so this will add to her character’s role and make it more exciting.

OMG! How much MORE do we need to know about Ziva’s life? There’s barely anything we DON’T know! Her childhood, her father, her brother, her romances, her Mossad friends, her views on the world, her anger issues… Give it a rest already and let someone ELSE have the focus of the stories.

Poor old Abby. Been in the show since day one and we haven’t met one family member so far, unlike Ziva whose granny and great aunt they’ll be wheeling on next.

Abby got one vague plotline in ONE ep at the beginning of the season and that’s it. In the meantime, Ziva has had a romance and saved the world umpteen times.

If I were Pauley Perrette I’d just resign. Or Sean Murray or David McCallum come to that.

They should just rename it the Gibbs and Ziva adventure show and have done with. Tony’s only there for comic relief and to mope around being sad about his life so Gibbs can give him sage advice. The only two heroes on the show are Gibbs and Ziva.

I agree about Abby too. Abby’s best story so far was Bloodbath, and that’s now 6 years ago! It’s one of the best episodes of NCIS, imo, and yet they keep failing to give her anything exciting season after season. No boyfriends, no interesting social life, nothing. I really can’t understand that. Both Tony & Abby are funny and entertaining yet they both have a hidden badass which is awesome when allowed to come out and play. Sadly these days only Gibbs & Ziva are allowed to be the badasses with Tony & Abby picking up the comedy side of the show week after week.

TRUE THAT NCIS IS BY FAR THE BEST SHOW EVER RERUNS OR NOT I’M STILL WATCHING IT!MY BOY FRIEND SAYS IT’S MONOTONOUS AND I DON’T CARE I LOVE ME SOME NCIS.IT’S SOMETHING ABOUT THAT SILVER HAIR THAT JUST DRIVES ME WILD,AND THE HALF SMURK SMILES HE DOES. ;0)

GREAT…Abby & Ziva are friends, but not close friends. NCIS could really do backstory on most all the characters. We do know about where Gibbs came from and Still Water. Mike was his good friend..who should have never been killed off! (Who thought that was a good idea?)BTW…I miss Jenny, too. Gibbs needs a new red head girlfriend.
Tony & McGee need outside activities. When is Palmer’s wedding? We haven’t seen her, either.

Aww, disappointing on one level because I’d hoped this story line was a way to bring back Jenny, whose body and funeral we never saw (both just alluded to, unlike with Kate, who was in the organization for a much shorter period of time). But I’m glad we’ll get a Ziva-centric story…

I could not be more excited for Ziva’s friend to appear. Ziva is such a rich character and honestly, we know so very little about her. I was hoping that Aunt Nettie would at one time make an appearance, but if this friend is similar to a Mike Franks for Ziva, bring her on.
I have more faith in Tony than some I suppose –
I do agree that we need more Abby and Jimmy and Ducky scenes, but to learn more about our Agent David from someone who knows her, can only add to NCIS and all of our enjoyment of the show. This is a wonderful move on the writers part and on Gary Glasbergs part. I am willing to bet it breaks all the ratings for this Season.

I love NCIS! Like the idea of Ziva friend from past coming into story. Need more like that with McGee and Abby also. Another idea would be for Gibbs to actually meet and marry his FINAL wife. Tony needs to get back with his love also.. what was her name? That dotor that had the enemy dad?

You are so right, that would be a great story. Tony seemed to really love her, and still does. And lets face it, that ended too sad ! I think Gibbs should have a wedding too. You are right, they need to give more to Abbey and McGee….they did have McGee’s sister , and that was a great show, and now some good stuff with Abbey. This adoption should continue, and bring back her brother….keep it going. And Tim, give him a break ! Ducky needs a sweetie, and Palmer needs to get married.

I love the whole cast at NCIS!! Hope that they all stay!!! Zeva is one of the best because she is very strong and soft when she needs to be! The best thing is she can stand on her on with tony. Glad that her friend is coming on but wanting ziva to stay!

The entire cast is so dynamic and entertaining to watch… I’m so glad we will be finding out more about Ziva’s past. A strong intelligent positive female character has been a long time coming! So excited!

I don’t think she is going anywhere, but to say the show wouldnt’ make it….come on ! The show is not made by one person, its made by a Team…..and that is what they have a team. Its like “Friends”…they just click. But, so did Kate.

Awesome! I can’t wait. The storyline sounds rife with intriguing possibilities and I love backstory and have been curious about more of Ziva’s for awhile now. Have we heard anything new about Tiva this season? One of my favorite season finales was the one with Tiva and Michael Rifkin(?). If we had some cool Tiva like that sometime this season it would be just about perfect. :)

Excited, but hopefully they won’t have this turn into another love interest for Tony. Wanted Ziva to be the focus. Really wish they would have her kicking butt like in the old days. US citizen Ziva is too passive.